Bath-mat.



E. R. CROOKER.

BATH MAT. I APPLICATION HLED NOV. 23.1915. I 1,190,266. Patented July 11, 1916.

FIG-1 Z FIG-2 2 ms Fgrzns cauwnamumov. wasmucruu. o c.

nnwrn n, .onoonnn, or Losn vennns, canrronnrn.

ATH-MAT.

Specification of Letters Patent,

Paaemly 1 516,

Application .filed November 23, 1915.5 Serial N0. 63,100..

To allwhomit may concern:

Be it known that}, EDWIN R; Cnoonnn, a citizenof: the United States, and a resident of: Los Angeles, ,in-thecounty of Los Amgeles and: State of California, have invented a new and; useful Improvement in Bath-Mats, of which the following is. a, specification.

This invention relates. to bath mats and more particularly to impervious or non-ab? sorbent mats for collecting andholding bath water. Such mats are frequently used; in country homes, camps or other places, not equippedzwithbath tubs or, modern plumbing on water supply systems, andwherethe bathen' stands on the mat and directs the waterfrom.anoverhead supply tank over,- his body, said, water flowing down. and collecting-in the mat; tobe carriiedl out therein. and thrown away.

The object of the inventionI is-toprovide a. simple and inexpensive bath! mat. which may be made of. one piece without seams, cracks, on glued; or cemented joints of any kind, so that it isdurable and practically completely leakpnoof; and. one which is light, compact, and; strong and. isheavily reinforced at the usual weak places, against repeated folding and unfolding and against ordinary wear. and tear.

Further objects: of the invention. are in part obvious and in part will appean more in detail hereinafter.

l he inventionl comprises the bath. mat

hereinafter described, andclaimed.

In the. drawings, Figure lisa bottom plan view of a, partially folded blankfrom which the mat is formed; Fig. 2 is. a similar view of the completely folded blank; Fig. 3- is. a perspectiveview ofa complete mat; Fig. 4: is a, detail perspective view, on a larger scale, looking downwardly and, inwardly at one of the partially formed cornersof the mat, as prepared from the blank in Fig. 2; Fig. 5' is another perspective-view of the same corner;- Fig.- 6 is a detail crossv sectional view on the line 6 6, Fig. 4, and showing the corner completed with, the folded portions, secured to each other Figs. 7 and 8 are'perspective views showing a modified form: of mat; Figs. 9

' and 10' are similar views, illustrating still another; modification; and Fig. L1 is acper-.

spective view of the bottom of the mat shown in Fig. 9;

Referring to; made of a singleflat sheet the drawings, the mat is both 1,, preferably made of impervious or non-absorbent material, such as a rubber; sheet, ora sheet of textile fabric coated on one or. both sides with. gum, rubber on similar, material. It is consequently flexible and, can be rolled: or folded up. into. a, compact parcel. for ship: ping, storage, or packing, and, yet; can be opened; out to I cover alarge. area. for, collectin-gthebath water. Thesheet 1 is preferably rectangular, and be eithersquare on oblong, and! while. hereafter I refer, to ends and sides of thesheet or mat, it will of course be understood that these words are not tobe. considered; as limiting the invention in any way as regards relative dimensions of the mat,

The flat sheet 1, is first foldedinto a blank, the first operation; consisting in folding inwardly upon the body portion Ofi the sheet its side marginal portions 2, and, thenjfold ingin, the. end marginal, portions 3; upon the body portion and folded side portionsEZ; In Fig. 1 both, sidepontionsand oneend por tion; have been folded inwardly, while in Fig. 2both, side.and{ bothend, portions are folded toproducethe completeblank. The folded side and end portions 2- and.3; of. the blank are on the, outside of the completed mat, sothat the inneltsurf ace ofthemat is formed; by the unbrokensunface of thebody portion. ofy the sheet, and has no cracks, crevicesor openings of any kind, andrthere: fore. prevents wholly the escape of water from. the mat. The. peripheral portions of theblank are also.reinfor.ced, stiffened, and strengthened, by folding the edge portions onto the body, which produces; four. thicknesses. or pliesof material at the corners 4, wherethe sides andends overlap each other,

an two-plies of material, between said corners along the. sides and ends, although by infolding the edge-portions a greater. numbenof times than; as shown the number of plies of'materi'al at, the corners and edges of the blank may be readily increased.

The folded blank shown in Fig. .2 is turned, over so that the infolded edge portions; are on the bottom, and, is, then folded up into shallow tray form, so asto produce a, rim. orwall. 6 around the periphery of the mat to hold the water therein. Said rim or wall is. of; uniform depth or height around the entire mat, .and preferably its, height is less than the width of the infolded portions 2 and 3-. In, the drawings, therirn or wall is approximat y alf. th Widt .013 he 1 folded portions, so that in the completed mat said infolded portions extend down along the outside of the rim or wall and inwardly beneath the mat toward its center, as indicated at 7, consequently reinforcing all portions of the rim or wall by a two-ply base or body underneath the same.

The corner joint of the completed mat may be of any suitable form, and several types thereof are shown in the drawings. For example, in Fig. f the corner joint is formed by folding inwardly the square corner portion 8 of the blank, which is folded upon itself into two plies along a diagonal line of fold 9. This corner fold is of a well known form and is superposed upon an adjacent portion of the rim or wall 6 at either the side or end of the tray,and is preferably suitably secured thereto so as to prevent the mat from collapsing or unfolding. One suitable securing means consists of an ordinary staple or paper fastener 10 passed through openings 10 in the folded corner 8 and the adjacent portion of the rim or wall 6. The folded corner portion 8 may also be folded outwardly, as in Fig. 7, and lapped on the outside instead of on the i11- side of the rim or wall, as shown in Fig. 8, and is secured thereto by a staple or paper fastener 10 in the same manner as illustrated in Fig. 4.

In both of the arrangements just described a single securing device, such as the staple 10, is sufficient at each corner of the mat, but to further lock the corners when necessary the superposed plies of the infolded end and side portions of the mat may be secured to each other by a similar staple or fastener 11, as shown in Fig. 6. Said fastener will be inserted from beneath and will not extend through the body portion of the sheet, which is therefore left unbroken or imperforate, so that. no water can escape therethrough. By taking out the paper fasteners or staples 9 and 11 the mat can be readily rolled up for packing.

Figs. 9, 10 and 11 show another arrangement in which the corner joints are made by lapping the folded corner portions on the outside of the rim or wall, as in Fig. 7. In this form, however, the square two-ply por tion 12 of the infolded material at each end of the infolded ends 3, is folded underneath the body portion of the mat in the form of a triangular four-ply fold 13. This reduces the number of superposed plies on the end portion of the rim or wall 6, and diverts some of the material to a position underneath the body of the mat, so that at the triangular fold 13 there are eight plies or material through the bottom. This form of corner is securely fastened by staples or paper fasteners 14 passed through the triangular fold 13 and the superposed portions of the end and side infolds, but not through the body portion of the sheet, in the same manner as in Fig. 6, and also a staple or paper fastener 15 passed through the plies of the rim or wall. By carrying a portion of the folded corner beneath the mat it is reinforced at its corners against wear from the floor or other support upon which the mat is placed, While the mat also has a neater ap pearance at its corners.

The securing staples described may of course be dispensed with and the several superposed plies of material secured to each other in any other suitable manner, as by an adhesive cement. does not form a joint to prevent leakage of the liquid but merely acts as a mechanical binding means for holding the parts together.

This mat is of very simple construction as it embodies merely a single ply of material folded upon itself into a tray form and se cured at its corners by staples, paper fasteners, or other simple form of securing device. Consequently it can be manufactured very cheaply and is also more durable than prior mats of this form, due to the absence of stitched, glued or cemented joints which open up in use and through which the water leaks. that the completed mat can be folded or rolled into a compact parcel and consequently can be conveniently stored away when not in use. The mat is also self-supporting and requires no braces or other frame parts for holding up its rim or wall.

It is self-contained and can be transported from place to place and used with any water source, so that it is convenient for traveling men and in any place where a bath tub is not accessible.

What I claim is: V

1. A bath mat, comprising a flexible sheet having its side and end portions folded in upon the body, the infolded periphery being folded to form a rim or w 11.

2. A bath mat, comprising a flexible sheet having its side and end portions folded in upon the body, the infolded periphery being folded to form a rim or wall, said infolded portions lying on the outside of the mat.

3. A bath mat, comprising a flexible sheet having its side and end portions folded in upon the body, the infolded periphery being folded to form a rim or wall, said infolded portions lying on the outside of the mat and extending beneath the same.

4. A. bath mat, comprising a flexible sheet having its side and end portions folded in upon the body, the infolded periphery being folded to form a rim or Wall, and means for securing the infolded portions of the sheet to each other. I

5. A bath mat, comprising a flexible sheet having its side and end portions folded in upon the body, the infolded periphery being Said cement, however,

The material of course is flexible so folded to form a rim or Wall, said infolded portions lying on the outside of the mat, and means for securing the infolded portions of the sheet to each other.

6. A bath mat, comprising a flexible sheet having its side and end portions folded in upon the body, the infolded periphery being folded to form a rim or Wall, said infolded portions lying on the outside of the mat and extending beneath the same, and means for securing the infolded portions of the sheet to each other.

7 A bath mat, comprising a flexible sheet having its side and end portions folded in upon the body, the infolded periphery being folded to form a rim or Wall, and fastening means passing through the superposed infolded portions of the mat.

8. A bath mat, comprising a flexible sheet having its side and end portions folded in upon the body, the infolded periphery being folded to form a rim or Wall, said infolded portions lying on the outside of the mat and extending beneath the same, and fastening means passing through the superposed infolded portions mat. v

9. A bath mat, comprising a flexible sheet having its side and end portions folded in upon the body, the infolded periphery being folded to form a rim or Wall, the corner parts of the infolded portions being superposed upon adjacent portions of said rim or Wall.

10. A bath mat, comprising a flexible sheet Copies of this patent may be obtained for folded to form beneath the corners of the having its side and end portions folded in upon the body, the infolded periphery being a rim or Wall, the corner parts of the infolded portions being superposed upon adjacent portions of said rim or Wall, and means for securing the same thereto.

11. A bath mat, comprising a flexible sheet having its side and end portions folded in upon the body, the infolded periphery being folded to form a rim or Wall, the corner parts of the infolded portions being superposed upon adjacent portions of said rim or Wall and the exposed end portions of the infolded periphery being folded beneath the corner.

12. A bath mat, comprising a flexible sheet having its side and end portions folded in upon the body, the infolded periphery being folded to form a rim or Wall, the corner parts of the infolded portions being superposed upon adjacent portions of said rim or Wall and the exposed end portions of the infolded periphery being folded beneath the corner, and securing means passing through the superposed infolded portions beneath the corners of the mat and also through the last named folded exposed end portion of the infolded periphery.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

. EDWIN R. CROOKER. Witnesses:

ELBERT L. HYDE, SUE B. FRITZ.

Washington, D. G.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, 

